Tourists take photos in Shinsekai while looking at Tsutenkaku in Osaka on December 12, 2024.
Shin Ki Chul | Nul Photo | Getty Images
Are you planning a trip abroad this year? If you have the desire to fly far away, you might be in luck.
Long-haul travel is now cheaper than last year, according to data released this week by airline tracking company Hopper.
For example, air flights between the US and Asia through mid-2025 are 11% lower than last year, averaging $1,087, and capacity is 6% higher than in 2024. European flights were down 6% to $754, according to Hopper data.
Flights to Africa and the Middle East are flat compared to last year, but tickets to South America are down 4% to $685, and tickets from the U.S. to Mexico and Central America are up 9% to $469. It has become.
Meanwhile, U.S. domestic ticket prices are rising as airlines become more cautious about increasing capacity in the U.S. and face aircraft delivery delays. boeing And Airbus.
But international travel has become cheaper as airlines have increased capacity to popular destinations and compared to the post-pandemic surge when travel restrictions were lifted and travelers rushed to book international trips. This is because demand growth has leveled off. Airlines have faced labor and aircraft shortages due to the pandemic, and fares have increased.
Fares in Europe were the lowest in years at the end of last year as airlines ramped up capacity.
“We’re not at the pent-up demand stage yet,” said Scott Keyes, founder of travel app Going (formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights). .
Favorable exchange rates for travelers using the US dollar in many countries, including hotspot Japan, are driving demand. The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan increased by nearly 50% in the first 11 months of 2024, reaching nearly 33.4 million, according to Japanese government data.
travel search site kayak He said flights to Asia are the cheapest they’ve been in at least three years and customer interest is growing. Kayak noted that Japanese cities Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka recorded the highest growth rate in searches.
Tourists sit in front of the Patong Beach signboard along the coast of Phuket island in southern Thailand on November 29, 2024.
Chanakhan Raosarakham | AFP | Getty Images
Airfares are also cheaper across the Caribbean, with flights to Dominica (down 21% compared to last year) and flights to Barbados and St. Lucia 17% cheaper than last year, Kayak said.
Travelers flying this year are also increasingly interested in business class, with trending airlines including: deltaWe took advantage of the 2025 airline earnings release on Friday.
Kayak estimates that searches for these four-digit business class fares are up 19% from last year.
